The Hindsight of Unlife
by BluuGirl
Summary: The mysterious girl is no longer mysterious. Her last month of life is her biggest secret; her biggest regret. But at least he came with her. Some dance to remember, they dance to forget.


_A/N: So what if Johnny and Ember aren't the most popular non-canon pairing? I wrote this thing and I like it. At least two more installments to come. Thank you so much for reading!_

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The news had gotten out. The mystery girl, was no longer mysterious.

For a while, she was only known by the name she called herself; never revealing her past like the others often did. Telling how you died was almost initiation in the Ghost Zone. As a ghost, your death became as much part of you as your life. She was different than the others. Her tight lips and ever watchfulness somehow drew attention to her much to her dismay. She seemingly denied the fact that she was even dead. Her ambitions still persisted in the mortal world. To the others, it was all too noticeable that her spirit was young, helpless, plenty bitter but only slightly vengeful. She may have been evil in another life, but if this girl wanted to move on she could very well move on into the Higher Zone with the peaceful spirits. But she had chosen to stay in the Ghost Zone and for the longest time, which in reality had only been a little over thirty years, no one knew why. Now, she had finally been exposed.

Her final month of mortal existence was her closest guarded secret. While she may have occasionally permitted herself to exchange snarky banter with some other unfortunate soul, it was never about _that _no matter how much they asked_._ She knew right away when word had gotten out when the Lunch Lady, the most maternal spirit of the Ghost Zone, had come to her aide. That meant he must be somewhere, telling her secrets; trying to make her angry. The girl knew denying redemption was only factor keeping her from reaching the Higher Zone with the other restful spirits. She knew the only way anyone could have heard about her previous life was if he had finally chased her down across the other endless stretches of the Ghost Zone. She didn't know if she could do it again; see him again. She knew some human part of her that remained, that longed for salvation, did want to see him again and forgive him. This idea forced her into further submission.

She hid among the obscurest parts of the Zone, retreating further into the sea of doors that lead to elsewhere until it seemed like she was truly alone; like she wanted to. Or maybe, she later thought, she was afraid to confront who had revealed her in the first place. This wasn't the way she wanted her unlife to be. She wanted it to be her and the single item that had faithfully followed her into death. It consoled her in the strangest way. It sang to her when the painful silence she forced herself into was too much. Music, while it was the death of her, still acted as a security blanket when she could remember it as such. It was the reason why she floated among the doors and resisted the temptation of falling into another domain. Yet her overbearing selfishness let her keep running into oblivion. But he knew she would do that, so he kept looking. It had become a hobby of his. Something to distract him when his girlfriend was in one of her moods. Occasionally, he wondered if he had chosen the wrong babe.

Often, he decided he hadn't.

One moment, she found herself above a veritable pit of oblivion. Levitation had it's advantages. Instrument gripped in one hand, she saw into the sinking hues of inky green below her and wondered what was down there. Maybe she was doing it wrong the whole time. Maybe she should try down instead of forward. Damn, she had lost everything. Her happiness, her hope, her ambition, her flame. Everything that made her Her was dangerously cold.

"Who is going to stop me?" She asked no one.

Silence.

She sighed.

"Sissy?"

She didn't even hear him arrive. How strange of him to do it so... quietly. That wasn't like him. Ugh.

"I don't go by that name anymore. And from what I've heard, death breathe, you aren't Junior these days either" she snapped, not turning to face him.

"Yea, just didn't really flow with m- Hey!" He called. He hadn't noticed that she had taken off, listlessly drifting away in the same melancholic way she had for the past three decades. "Sissy! Uh- You! Hey you!"

She stopped, annoyed that he had used that name again.

"You know my name" she said, raising her voice threateningly. She took the chance and peered over her shoulder. Yea, it was him. "you all know my name. You all love to say it, love to gossip about it, love to mock it. You, of all people_ Junior _should know about how they talk. _You've _been doing the talking. Ugh, God! It's like I never left high school! No one can shut up! _You _can't shut up!"

He rolled his eyes. She was so dramatic.

"Chill out, dame. I-I... don't want to call you by that other name. I just can't. It's freaky to think of you being _that _thing..."

"What thing? A ghost?"

"No. That thing who killed me."

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. You did it first" she huffed, crossing her arms.

"So we both made some stupid decisions when we were kids-"

"It's funny how death is just a 'stupid decision' when you're dead." She interrupted, lazily drifting back beside him, glancing the other way. "You know, you're the reason I'm here. I hope you know that."

"I do."

"Also where's that dumb bint that hung around you all the time?"

"Hey now, babe, that's my girl you're talking about" he said warningly. He knew she was trying to make him angry.

She smirked, meeting his eyes for the first time in ages. She hoped her eyes weren't betraying her anxiety.

"Ugh... We're just... having a hard time right now" he said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, averting her glare.

Her smirk faltered.

"Haven't you always..."

He looked at her and she looked at him. Years of torment that had built up inside her; finally she had what she had wanted since she died. That was a chance to get him back; get him back a billion times harder than he had gotten her. Stupidly, she wondered for a moment if there was a way you could kill someone twice. She wanted there to be one. Then she wondered the question that had been on her mind since they were mortal. Was it true what he said that one time? Had he ever loved her? Her bitterness dismissed that idea, so she crossed her arms and ignored her thoughts. He instantly felt bad about everything that he had done to her. Then he hated her for what she did to him and his sweetheart. He wondered if they, him and the girl, would ever forgive each other and pass into the Higher Zone. It was worth a shot.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened."

"I'm not." She snarled. His pity only made her angrier.

"I don't care, Sissy. Please just-"

"Stop, stop, _stop! _Nasty Sissy is dead! You are dead! _We. Are. All. Dead. _The difference between you and me is that I'm not going to let it stop me! I'm going to live! I'll be bigger than anyone else! I'll finally have the life that you stole from me." She met his stare again, her eyes full of fire. "You can keep your stupid girlfriend and your stupid gang, Junior or James or whatever it is you go by these days."

"Johnny. Johnny 13."

"Johnny 13..." The name felt weird to her. "Well you can keep it all, Johnny 13. I'm going to be famous. _Me._"

"I-"

"You shouldn't doubt me."

"I don't. I ju-"

"Say my name."

"Will you let me talk?!"

"What's my name? My new name."

"What?"

"_What's my name._" she seethed, raising her guitar almost threateningly.

"...Ember McLain" he shuttered.


End file.
